Confusion
by Tinge
Summary: Astrid decides to see how things are in Perdido Beach before returning to Lake Tramonto; but will something- or someone- convince her to stay? Slight AU, one-shot unless I get good enough reviews. Caine x Astrid. Rated T just in case. And yes I know I suck at summaries, lol.


**Okay. So this is a Caine x Astrid story. Slightly AU. May or may not continue this. Spoilers from Gone-Plague, Rated T for swearing, mild adult themes, and possible violence in later chapters. **

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_Snap._

Astrid spun around, drawing her silver machete from the small loop in her much oversized belt. The belt was originally intended for a very large man, but if she looped it around multiple times it still managed to fit her and holster her various weapons well.

She saw nothing more than a small squirrel, who happened to have stepped on and snapped a twig, looking like a deer caught in headlights when faced with Astrid's blade. Sighing, she reholstered the machete and turned around, the squirrel quickly scurrying off into the forest.

"I'm going insane..." She muttered solemnly to herself, thinking of why it was she had banished herself to these woods in the first place. No matter how she looked at it, it all came back to that same thought, that same phrase. _I killed Little Pete._ The worst part? It was no act of passion, no sudden flare of emotion which spurred her into doing it. It was premeditation. Murder. She had thought about it for a long time beforehand, which made it so much worse. And it hadn't even paid off quite like she had hoped it would.

So, she had banished herself, a murderer, to the woods of the FAYZ, living among the wild animals. The wild animals, the people who killed for no reason, who thought about it. She fit right in with the coyotes, the greenies, the bugs, and the scariest _animal_ of all; Drake Merwin.

Suddenly, she felt the hot sting of tears running down her cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away, quickly banishing the thoughts of her past to the faraway recesses of her mind. Immediately after doing so, she once again felt the familiar stab of hunger. She was hungry, always hungry. As hungry as she had been in those months following the big Thanksgiving battle. She'd been trying to live on her own, without the aid of Sam or the lake, but she was edging dangerously close to starvation now, and could no longer afford to try in vain to live off small scraps of meat and berries she could manage to forage for in the forest.

She figured she was at least two days away from the Lake at this point; almost right next to Perdido Beach's border. She couldn't go to Perdido Beach... could she? It would save her a very awkward confront with Sam, and it was closer. But still... She wasn't exactly on Caine's good side.

After contemplating it for a few more minutes, Astrid decided that she was worrying over nothing, and that Caine couldn't punish her over an old grudge without losing some respect from his followers. So she would be safe, as long as she followed his rules from there, if only for the few days it would take for her to get her strength back up and head for Lake Tramonto.

Astrid gathered up her things, and began making the short trek to Perdido Beach. The trip only took her a few minutes, and she arrived at the town border to be greeted by an especially irritated-looking Lana.

"Astrid? What are _you_ doing here? Sams been waiting for you to get back to the Lake for a while, hes gonna be pissed as hell when he finds out you came here," She said, sounding somehow both irritated and indifferent at the same time. Astrid pulled her off to the side, out of earshot of the few kids who had taken note of Astrid's appearance.

"Look, I'm weak right now, and I need food. I'll be here for a few days, then I'll come to the lake. Please, don't tell Sam," She said, sounding much more pleading than she wanted to.

Lana just gave Astrid one of her signature icy glares, and said with her usual bitterness, "Fine, just don't take too long." Lana walked away without another word, apparently already having been on her way to the lake.

Sighing at the fact that Lana had once again reminded her of how she had ruined things with Sam, Astrid walked through the familiar streets of Perdido Beach and up to the large wooden door of the town hall.

She opened the door with no preamble, and walked in to see a rather distraught-looking Caine leaning his elbows on a large mahogany desk, resting his head on his hands where his fingers were intertwined. He glanced up wearily with red, bloodshot eyes to look at Astrid, slightly surprised by her appearance.

"Astrid... what do you want? Sam sent you here?" He said. The once-charismatic boy now looked more run down than ever, obviously heavily burdened by something.

"No... I haven't seen Sam since Perdido Beach and the lake split," She replied matter-of-factly. At that, she saw a small smirk return to the boy's face.

"So the perfect couple of the FAYZ finally had a little falling out, huh?" With that, Astrid felt a strong urge to slap him, but resisted. She was slightly taken aback by how little he knew of the Lake's affairs.

"Yes, I guess you could say that."

Apparently noting the newfound venom in her voice, along with the numerous cuts and bruises easily seen on her once-fair skin and her roughly cut short blonde hair, he seemed to look at her a bit differently. "Well, if you haven't been here or at the lake, then you've been in the woods alone, right?" He inquired, sounding genuinely curious.

"Yes. But what actually matters is that I'm here, I'm starving, and I've finally realized I'm not cut out to live alone."

"So basically you want us to feed you for a few days before you go to the Lake?" Caine said, looking at her skeptically.

She hesitated a moment, and then began, "No, I want to sta-"

"No you don't," he cut her off, "You hate me. No one here particularly likes you. You'd take the lake any day, except that you couldn't make it there. So you came to me. Don't try to lie to me, Astrid, you won't get any food that way." He smirked his infamous, cocky smirk, having easily seen through Astrid's failed attempts at lying.

She just sighed and said with all the sarcasm she could muster, "So what now? You're going to kill me? Use me as a hostage of sorts for Sam? Or do you actually have some small shred of kindness in you now which would allow you to actually take me in?"

He seemed to think about that a moment, then, "You can stay."

She blinked a few times, an awkward silence filling the room. She was dumbstruck by why Caine would do this, was it actually kindness? Or was there some other motive?

"Why?" She asked, bewildered.

"Don't question it or I may change my mind," he growled. Something was definitely up. He'd been narcissistic as usual, then kind, and now just cruel without even bothering to put up his normal charismatic front.

Growing a slight bit of confidence, Astrid asked, "Whats got you so mixed up, Caine? Somethings bothering you." She honestly wasn't sure why she cared, or even if she did. She might just be feeling a little hint of curiousity. Either way, it amounted to the same thing.

Suddenly, he waved his hand slightly, and she felt a sharp pain across her cheek as she felt a 'hand' slapping her, more gently than expected, across her face.

"Don't ask that again," he muttered almost inaudibly, before glaning back down towards the floor.

She sighed, but didn't push the issue. "So where will I be staying?"

He seemed to think about it a moment, before replying, "Four doors down that hall, on the left," motioning his hand down a hallway to his left. She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm staying with you?"

"Yeah. Most of the kids here would bug you day in and day out until you left. Or just kill you in your sleep, if you'd prefer," he said bitterly, then added, "And theres two bedrooms here, so it'd be safer."

Was he actually worried about her safety? No. He was worried about what would happen if she died while here and Sam found out. Then, another thought crossed her mind.

"Wait, if theres only two bedrooms, then you and Dian-" About halfway through the name 'Diana', Astrid was pushed back against the wall by an unseen force, Caine's hand raised into the air. His eyes had regained that bloodshot appearance, as though he were incredibly sad, but now also radiated an off-putting aura of pure rage.

"Don't mention her name around me. I'll kill you next time," he said, letting her down, as though he'd just now realized what he'd done. Then it hit her. They had broken up, she wasn't here. Thats why he was weary. Thats why he was confused. And thats why at just the mention of her name Astrid had nearly been crushed to death against a wall.

"Oh..." She said, in sudden understanding. Apparently noting that she'd come to that very conclusion, Caine simply nodded and said, "Yeah," and then looked back down at the ground.

Without another word, Astrid went to her room and shut the door, flopping down on the small bed which she'd be staying in for the next few nights. She let her eyes flutter closed wearily, and drifted into a light state of half-sleep, thinking about the events of the day, and always on the ready to snap awake at the first sign of danger, a habit she'd picked up from the woods.

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Astrid let out a small yawn as she sat up slowly in bed, waking from one of the longest bouts of sleep she'd had in a long time. She got up and got dressed in a loose-fitting grey T-shirt and light blue jeans, wondering what she should do for the day.

Nervously, she stepped out of her room and down to doors, to Caine's. She knocked shakily on the door, but didn't get a responce. After waiting just a little bit longer, she opened the door and walked in on a wide-awake Caine, staring up at the ceiling.

"Shit..." He said, "I thought I locked the door. What do you want, Astrid?" He sounded weary, beat-down.

For the first time since she'd met him, Astrid actually felt empathy for Caine. After all, she knew how a breakup could feel. Without thinking, and obviously without any regard to her own safety, she sat down on the edge of Caine's bed, which earned her an incredulous look and a raised eyebrow from Caine. Those features were immediately placed with a mix of anger and despair when Astrid said, "What happened with Diana?"

"What did I say about talking about that..." Caine muttered almost incoherently, his dark, cold eyes fixing on her.

"You said you'd kill me next time."

"Yet you still find it smart to bring it up?"

"No, I don't. But I did. So answer," Astrid said, glaring back at him. Their eyes met for a moment, before Caine sighed and turned away.

"I don't know. She went with Sam, instead of staying here," Her eyes widened a bit at that, from obvious shock, "She didn't even say anything. Just left, and I haven't seen her since."

At that last part, another thought crossed Astrid's mind. Diana had left Caine without a word. Astrid had done the exact same to Sam. She looked down, feeling both guilt and remorse for the first time since leaving for the woods. Then, she wondered why Diana had gone with Sam.

There must have been a reason. Astrid found herself thinking back over the past two years, recalling everything that had happened. One particular memory came to her then. Right before Sam had gone through, and survived the big poof, Diana had tried to warn him of what it was. And before leaving with Caine, she had actually come close to kissing him. She couldn't help but recall the jealousy she'd felt then. Surely, she was just reading too much into it. But maybe, just maybe...

She was snapped out of her thoughts then, by Caine moving a little, looking like he was trying to get out of bed.

"Caine... I'm so sorry. I.." She honestly couldn't think of anything to say.

"Don't pity me," He said bitterly, regaining his usual arrogance, "I don't need it."

"I'm not pitying you. I understand you." She shocked even herself with that last part. She'd said it without even thinking.

"What... did you just say?" Caine said, now looking at her. He looked as surprised as she felt.

"I understand you, Caine. I understand what you went through."

"No, you don't. No one does." Then, without warning, his look of shock turned to one of rage. "And why the hell am I talking to _you_, of all people, about this? You're just Sam's little girlfriend, you'll tell him all about everything I say as soon as you leave to go see him anyways."

"I won't.." She said quietly, feeling strangely guilty.

"Okay. Lets assume for a second that you're telling the truth, no matter how shocking that would be. Why do you even care? I'm the enemy. If you don't remember, I tried to kill Sam multiple times. I let Drake have you and your brother. I even tried to cement you. You hate me, and I've hated you up 'till..." Then he paused, seeming to wonder what he'd been about to say. Then, sounding almost like he was trying to convince himself more than her, "I still hate you."

Then, without warning, Astrid stood up and looked straight into his dark eyes. "Yeah Caine, you did those things. And I hated you for it. But now I see that you aren't just a narcissistic, manipulative bastard, you actually do have a heart, and its broken. I've let too many people down, so just talk to me, okay?"

He laughed a bit. "A heart, huh? Sorry Astrid, but I'm not some wimp who has to 'talk' about his problems. I'm not Sam."

"Believe me, I know you aren't. Sam would've been crying by now." She said, feeling bad about bad-mouthing him, especially now, but really wanting Caine to cheer up. Apparently, it had worked, since he actually laughed at that.

"Yeah, guess so," He said. They'd been argueing for a while now, but now it came to a sort of silence. She looked into his dark brown eyes, seeing him, for the first time, as a person, not a monster. She couldn't help but think that he actually _was_ very handsome, this close to him.

He wrapped his arms around her, causing her to literraly gasp in shock, and said quietly, "Thank you, Astrid."

Astrid leaned her head on his chest, happy that she'd been able to help him, and maybe feeling something else. Something she couldn't quite place. Then, a small force, Caine's telekinetic power; no doubt, though it was far gentler than she'd ever seen or felt it, lifted her chin up slightly, so that she was looking up at him. Caine leaned down, and kissed Astrid more gently than she'd have ever thought he could, or would. She closed her eyes and kissed him back, feeling both absolutely elated at his touch and guilty for doing this to Sam at the same time.

After just a few moments, he pulled away, and looked into her blue eyes for just a couple seconds, before turning away and to the door.

Before stepping out, he said to Astrid, not even looking towards her, "Astrid... how long will you be here, in Perdido Beach?"

"I... I don't know," she replied, unsure of what she would do next. He just nodded, and stepped out of the room, leaving her both happy and extremely, extremely confused.

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**Rate and review! :D Seriously, whether or not I continue is pretty much entirely dependant on the reviews, lol.**


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